Truth
by JuliaBC
Summary: Hotch catches Reid in a lie and confronts him about it, but...is it a lie? Now with a second chapter.
1. Truth

Truth

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><p>The blonde was hanging over Reid, her cleavage nearly spilling out of her dress.<p>

"I'm serious," she gushed. "I don't know how to thank you."

"You really don't need to thank me. It's my job," Reid reiterated for the millionth time in fifteen minutes.

"You're cute, you have to know that, right?" She murmured, leaning closer and Reid tried to inch away, but as she was sitting on his desk and he was in his chair, he was finding it hard.

"This isn't appropriate," he muttered, and she straightened.

"Well, it would be if we weren't here. If we were, say, at a restaurant? On a date? As we would be if we were in a relationship?" She let the words slip off her tongue glibly, and her eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

"No."

"Why not?" She purred.

"Because…I'm in love with someone."

"That doesn't matter," she murmured, placing a hand on his chest.

"It's a man." The words slipped out.

She blanched and jumped up, backing away. "Are you serious?" Her words were ice cold now and none of her 'seductiveness' remained.

"Yes." Reid said hesitantly, then more firmly. "Yes."

She shuddered. "I have to go now."

She hurried out and Reid took in a deep breath, before he had the scare of his life when a voice behind him said,

"You shouldn't have lied, Reid."

"What the—" He spun out of his chair, hand going to the rarely used gun on his hip.

Hotch stood there, sternly disapproving. Reid didn't relax at the sight of him; he tensed up even more.

"Why are you still here, Hotch? Were you spying on me?" Reid blurted out, anger suddenly in his voice.

Hotch blinked, but didn't react more than that. "I was doing some paperwork and I heard voices," he explained calmly. "Why did you lie?"

"You saw her. She wasn't leaving. I had to get rid of her," Reid said, looking suddenly flustered. He raked his hand through his hair, and then started gathering his things and cramming them into his bag.

"I'll say it again. You shouldn't have lied. It reflects badly on you and on—"

"Oh, save it, Hotch," Reid snapped, fastening his bag with shaking hands. "She isn't even important." He started to walk to the elevators, but to his further discomfort, Hotch followed, prompting him to continue speaking uncensored. "Besides, who's to say it wasn't true? Would you really know better than me if I was gay?"

"That doesn't have to do with this! Was it a lie?"

"Profile me," Reid spat.

This time, Hotch reacted. "What, you _want_ me to profile you? Okay, who is it, then? The new cleaning boy? The deputy in Iowa? Morgan?" He fairly spat the words but Reid only madly pushed the down button and avoided eye contact.

"I didn't realize you were homophobic," he finally returned.

"I'm not and you know it. But it is important to the team that we have no secrets and something like this is important. It can be used against you."

Hotch realized what tone he was speaking in and immediately calmed. "I'm sorry for speaking so strongly."

Reid didn't react, he just pushed the button for the ground floor.

"Was it…true?" Hotch asked, hesitantly.

Reid looked up and he was defiant; then he was scared. Hotch realized why when he answered.

"Yes."

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><p>AN: I have to say, this is new for me. Usually I have some trouble with ideas, but I've had three pretty good ideas in a row for Hotch and Reid and when I started typing, or writing by hand, the words just flew away with me.

Please, check out my others, if you want, and let me know what you think about each of them.

Can you guess who it is Reid is in love with?


	2. Secrets Revealed

Secrets

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><p>On a cold night in November, in a hotel room in Oregon, Reid woke with a start in the middle of the night with a sudden pain in his leg. He started to madly shake it back and forth, trying to relieve the cramp there.<p>

"Shit," he muttered, sense leaving him and he forgot how to stop the damn thing.

From the next bed, Aaron Hotchner stirred, and sat up, turning on the light. "What's wrong?"

_Light sleeper, _Reid thought. _But I knew that._

"Leg cramp," he replied in a tight voice.

Hotch slipped from his bed. "Don't you know what to do?"

"My brain doesn't always work properly at..." he checked the clock. "3:00 a.m."

Hotch sat at the edge. "All right, stop thrashing, you need to stretch it out."

"I know," Reid said. "But I can't."

Hotch raised an eyebrow and grabbed Reid's thrashing leg. His hands went to Reid's calf and gently, he eased the leg to a straight position. Reid sighed in relief, thinking that Hotch would return to his own bed then, but instead, his hands started moving in confident circles on Reid's calf and knee. "Calm down, I know what I'm doing."

Reid, a bit breathless, leaned back. "Where did you learn massage therapy?"

"You pick up a lot of things," Hotch said, with a shrug.

"No, seriously," Reid straightened.

"Ah...when Haley was pregnant, in the third trimester, she started having leg cramps like these, for a brief time. Then physical therapy after the New York bombings and physical therapy after Foyet. I know, they didn't affect my legs, but once after work I just walked into a book store and grabbed some things that looked like they might help. And I...reread the one of massage last year when your knee started bothering you again."

Reid's eyebrows shot up. "Do tell."

Hotch tipped his head, his hands still moving. "At first, I was just going to give it to you, but I didn't. So then I read it in case you ever needed or asked for help. I always regretted that I didn't offer it."

Reid was quiet, watching Hotch's hands as they continued to move in steady circles, then carefully straightened Reid's leg again. "Is the after pain getting better?"

"Yeah," Reid answered, and Hotch continued.

"You never came to me with anything like that, it was always Morgan or Garcia. All those times you've been shot, tortured, suffered from intense migraines...You have had a lot of pain, Reid," Hotch said. "I wanted to be prepared, and I did give Garcia a shoulder massage one time last year when we stayed at the Bureau past midnight looking for someone. She didn't have to stay, but she did and that was my reward for her." He chuckled. "For whatever reason, the first thing that always pops to mind when I think of Garcia is when Gideon stayed behind with her."

"Ah, the Chinese food..."

"And the boxes...She was so pissed when we got back, almost out of her mind," Hotch smiled, his hands still moving.

"You know, pain hasn't completely characterized my life. I've had a lot of joys, too," Reid returned to the previous subject. "How many people wouldn't want to be in this position?"

"How many people would? There are so many people who don't understand why anyone would choose to do this work. Haley's parents never understood and even my mother still asks me why I can't do my job just as well as a lawyer."

"Hmm?"

"Catching bad guys," Hotch clarified. "The question we both get the most is why do you do it, and you know it."

"Maybe, but why don't we reset the parameters to inside the FBI?"

"Oh, then you may be correct. I suppose many would love your spot on the BAU."

Reid considered something with pursed lips. "Let's disregard all of those things, Aaron. When I said position, I meant my current one where you are massaging my leg."

Hotch's eyes met Reid's, startled, but his hands didn't stop moving.

"Remember last month, when you caught me with Sarah Arnez? And you asked me if I was telling the truth? And I said yes?"

Hotch's hands continued moving, and his eyes never broke away from Reid's. He swallowed visibly as Reid continued talking.

"And how part of my statement was that I was in love with a man and you may have asked who it was? Or rather, tried to profile who it was? Why didn't you think to include yourself in that pool, Hotch?"

He was silent a long moment before he spoke. "I wasn't that confident." He paused. "But Reid, why did you think I was so angry? Why didn't you consider the possibility that—" He paused again, tipping his head, and his gaze pleaded for Reid to understand.

"Spencer, those feelings are returned," Hotch said slowly, and for the first time his gaze dropped to his hands.

"Good," Reid said, and turned off the light.


End file.
